Scottish Executive

Autism

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans there are to establish a national service for people diagnosed on the autistic spectrum.

Mr Frank McAveety: The Scottish Executive has no plans to establish a national service for people diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder. The provision of services to meet the health and social care needs of people diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorders is a matter for local health and social care organisations.

  We have asked local authorities and NHS boards to conduct a joint audit of existing health, social care and children’s services. Responses are due by the end of April and an analysis of the returns will inform the next steps for developing services.

Bridges

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many bailey bridges are currently in use in the Moray Council area.

Lewis Macdonald: There are no bailey bridges on the Scottish trunk road network. Local roads and bridges in Moray are a matter for Moray Council, but I understand that one bailey bridge is currently in use.

Civil Service

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-33523 by Mr Andy Kerr on 14 February 2003, how many specialists were recruited into the civil service in each year since 1996.

Mr Andy Kerr: The following table details the number of specialists who joined the Scottish Executive Core in each financial year since April 1999. Data pre-1999 is unavailable.

  Scottish Executive Core Departments

  Permanent Specialist Staff Who Joined in Each Financial Year

  1999-2000 to 2002-03 (Year to Date)

  


Financial Year 
  

Headcount 
  



April 1999 to March 2000 
  

156 
  



April 2000 to March 2001 
  

110 
  



April 2001 to March 2002 
  

116 
  



April 2002 to January 2003 
  

95

Climate Change

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the impact of greenhouse gas emissions from air travel on targets to reduce climate change.

Ross Finnie: The UK has a Kyoto Protocol target to reduce emissions of the basket of six greenhouse gases to 12.5% below 1990 levels by 2008-12. This is a UK-wide target, and action taken to meet it will occur across all sectors of the economy and in all regions of the UK.

  The UK compiles an annual inventory of greenhouse gas emissions to assess progress towards meeting this target. The UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory is prepared according to international guidelines. It includes carbon dioxide emissions from domestic flights (both civil and military) between destinations in the UK, including take-off and landing and the cruise phase.

  The latest year for which published data are available is 2000. Emissions of carbon dioxide from domestic aviation in the UK were around 0.8 million tonnes of carbon equivalent in 2000, representing 0.4% of total UK greenhouse gas emissions.

  Emissions associated with aviation fuel loaded onto international flights are also recorded in the UK Inventory but, in accordance with reporting guidelines, are not included in the UK greenhouse gas totals.

Community Safety

Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to ensure that people feel safe on the streets of their communities.

Hugh Henry: We have put record resources into policing. As a result police numbers are at an all time high.

  We are giving all council-led Community Safety Partnerships a share of £12 million over three years to identify and address local community safety priorities.

  We have awarded £10.3 million to some 161 CCTV systems and recently allocated £2.5 million to upgrade, centralise and modernise some of these systems.

  As part of the Local Government Settlement, £180 million of Quality of Life funding for local authorities has been allocated over the next three years on top of an extra £95 million this year to improve the local environment and encourage children and young people to make healthy lifestyle choices. £7.3 million of this was allocated to Neighbourhood Safety, CCTV improvements and to removing graffiti and reducing vandalism.

  In the 2002 Spending Review the Executive committed £30 million in order to tackle anti-social behaviour, the poor quality of the environment and to help local people build strong safe communities. The Executive will be making an announcement shortly about proposals to extend Community Safety Warden schemes more widely across Scotland as well as other community-based initiatives to address anti-social behaviour.

Crime

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to reduce levels of re-offending by those leaving prison.

Hugh Henry: The Executive is working to reduce re-offending rates by developing better throughcare services, as recommended by the tripartite group in its recent report. This sets out a programme to strengthen the support provided for prisoners on their release from prison. It is supported by additional funding for local authority criminal justice social work services.

Crime

David McLetchie (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many drivers of foreign-registered cars caught speeding by police speed cameras have not paid the appropriate fine in each of the last three years and what its estimate is of revenue lost as a result.

Mr Jim Wallace: The information requested is not held centrally.

Crime

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to ensure that crime against people with learning disabilities is explicitly recognised and not described by other terms such as bullying, harassment and abuse.

Mr Jim Wallace: I announced in Parliament on 20 February during the debate on Stage 3 of the Criminal Justice Bill that the Scottish Executive would set up a working group to look at how the justice system deals with people within groups defined by gender, age, disability and sexual orientation. We made this decision following consultation with Robin Harper MSP, and taking into account representations from equality groups. Final decisions on remit and membership must wait until after the forthcoming Scottish Parliament elections.

  In addition, the Executive has recently commissioned a team from Edinburgh University to take forward a research project to examine the functioning of the Appropriate Adult Schemes in Scotland. Appropriate Adult Schemes are designed to assist people with learning disabilities or mental illness in their communications with the police. The findings of the research are expected in December 2003.

Crime

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether policies and procedures have been set up to prevent and respond to hate crime against people with learning difficulties such as third-party reporting, positive arrest policies, recording and monitoring and social target-hardening procedures and, if not, whether such measures are being considered.

Mr Jim Wallace: I refer the member to the answers given to questions S1W-33987 on 21 February 2003 and S1W-34192 today. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search..

Fisheries

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the First Minister what support will be provided to ensure that the Ardtoe Marine Farming Unit will continue to operate as a national resource for research into marine fin fish farming.

Mr Jack McConnell: I am concerned about the loss of research and the implications for the economy in Lochaber following the decision by Seafish to withdraw from the Ardtoe facility.

  Highlands and Islands Enterprise stand ready to support prospective operators in accordance with their established remit and have been proactive in recent weeks in terms of attempting to broker a deal.

Flooding

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Ad Hoc Committee of Ministers on Flooding Issues has reported its findings and whether it has any plans to improve current arrangements to deal with flooding.

Ross Finnie: Recognising the misery and distress that flooding can cause and having resolved to improve current arrangements to address flooding concerns, ministers have agreed to implement the recommendations of the Ad Hoc Committee on Flooding Issues in full. These decisions build on our existing strategic framework for addressing flooding based on awareness, avoidance and alleviation.

  We will improve awareness of the risks of flooding through the provision of better flood risk information and additional flood warning systems.

  We will publish revised national planning policy to strengthen the ability of planning authorities to prevent unsuitable further development where there is significant flood risk.

  In addition to investing £40 million over the next three years to reduce flood risk for 1,850 properties, we will reduce the risk of sewer flooding by continuing to encourage the use of sustainable urban drainage systems and working with Scottish Water to ensure that such systems are properly maintained.

  We will manage flood risk better by improving national guidance and administrative procedures for promoting new flood alleviation schemes.

  We will ensure joint working between local authorities, Scottish Environment Protection Agency and Scottish Water to improve flood risk management and will establish a national technical advisory group.

  We are helping those who might be affected by flooding by encouraging the take up of insurance by householders, in particular those in the social rented sector. We will ensure better support to those affected by flooding.

  Implementation of these measures will strengthen the existing arrangements to address flooding and thereby reduce the risks and the impacts of flooding on those individuals and communities in vulnerable areas.

General Practitioners

Mr Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how the British Medical Association’s proposed overhaul of GP services will impact on patient care in rural areas.

Malcolm Chisholm: The new General Medical Services contract is currently subject to a ballot of general practitioners, arranged for mid-March to early April.

  If the result of the ballot is favourable, all patients, regardless of their location, will continue to enjoy the full range of services they currently receive while also benefiting from a number of improvements, including the achievement of better outcomes in quality care, a focus on delivering care through best use of the practice team and more effective management of GP workloads.

  In addition, the specific needs of patients in remote and rural areas will be addressed through new approaches to delivering Out-of-Hours care, through more flexible working and employment arrangements and through funding arrangements which are responsive to the extra costs of delivering care in remote and rural settings.

Health

Dennis Canavan (Falkirk West): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to improve renal services.

Malcolm Chisholm: The national report on adult renal services, published today by our independent clinical governance body NHS Quality Improvement Scotland, indicates a generally high level of compliance with most of the standards which apply to these services. The report also makes a series of recommendations for improving services, and we expect NHS boards to consider these carefully and implement them so that they are able to meet all of the renal services standards in future.

Housing

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to ensure the availability of affordable, good quality housing for those on low incomes in the Dumbarton parliamentary constituency.

Ms Margaret Curran: I have asked Bob Millar, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:

  Communities Scotland is investing £11.405 million in new social rented housing provision within the Dumbarton constituency over the three-year period 2002-03 to 2004-05. This investment will provide 268 new houses within the constituency over this period. Communities Scotland’s funding is channelled through four housing associations, and a detailed breakdown of units/spend by association is as follows:

  Completed/Approved Units and Spend

  

 

2002-03 
  

2003-04 
  

2004-05 
  



Units 
  

Spend
(£ Million) 
  

Units 
  

Spend
(£ Million) 
  

Units 
  

Spend
(£ Million) 
  



Bellsmyre HA 
  

- 
  

- 
  

30 
  

0.075 
  

- 
  

0.945 
  



Cordale HA 
  

- 
  

2.092 
  

40 
  

0.580 
  

- 
  

0.817 
  



Cube HA 
  

- 
  

0.060 
  

30 
  

0.870 
  

2 
  

0.030 
  



Dunbritton HA 
  

66 
  

1.183 
  

70 
  

0.530 
  

30 
  

2.045 
  



Sub-Total 
  

66 
  

3.335 
  

170 
  

2.055 
  

32 
  

3.837 
  



Additional Spend* 
  
 

1.103 
  
 

0.775 
  
 

0.300 
  



Total 
  
 

4.438 
  
 

2.830 
  
 

4.137 
  



  Note:

  *Includes environmental projects, adaptations and wider role funding supporting/relating to housing developments.

Landfill

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what monitoring is carried out at landfill sites and their surrounding areas with regard to the sites’ impact on health.

Ross Finnie: Responsibility for the protection of the health of local populations rests jointly with the local NHS board and the local authority. Monitoring of the local incidence of disease is a matter for these bodies. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency is responsible for monitoring the environmental impacts of landfill sites, such as landfill gas and leachate, dust and noise and vibration.

Language Training

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the review of the Scottish Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research has been completed.

Nicol Stephen: The review of the Scottish Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research (SCILT) is now complete and copies of the report have been placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 26574) and will be distributed widely within the education system. The Scottish Executive Education Department will work closely with Scottish CILT to take forward the recommendations made in the report.

Licensing

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will report on the liquor licensing review.

Mr Jim Wallace: I am very grateful to Sheriff Principal Gordon Nicholson and his committee for the considerable commitment they have shown in completing their deliberations in this complex area of public policy, law and procedure within the 18-month timescale suggested by the Executive. The committee's consultation paper attracted over 200 replies and the committee also devoted eight days to taking oral evidence in addition to its own programme of meetings. The text of the report is undergoing final editing at present, but it will not be possible to publish the report before Parliament dissolves.

Museums

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will announce its proposals for the future funding and organisation of the museum and heritage sector.

Mike Watson: The Executive has not, as yet, decided when to make an announcement on the action plan for the museum sector. Eighty-three detailed responses were received and are being carefully considered.

NHS Services

Janis Hughes (Glasgow Rutherglen) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it is using information technology innovation to improve delivery of NHS services.

Malcolm Chisholm: Under our eHealth plans, Integrated Care Records will evolve over the coming three years based on building blocks already happening such as electronic referral and discharge letters, online laboratory test results and shared online records for patient groups such as diabetes.

National Lottery Funding

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to the proposed single body for distributing lottery funding, whether it will make representations to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport about establishing a single distributing body for lottery funding specifically for Scotland, in the context of devolved policy areas such as social justice, health, education, environment, heritage, arts and sports.

Dr Elaine Murray: I met the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and the Minister for Culture, Sport and the Welsh Language of the National Assembly for Wales on 27 February to discuss a range of issues on the National Lottery, including the proposed merger of the Community Fund and the New Opportunities Fund. While Scottish ministers are seeking a direct relationship with the new merged body, we have no plans to seek a single lottery distributing body for all lottery funding streams in Scotland.

Pre-School Education

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many three- and four-year-old children have been in pre-school education and what proportion of these received provision in centres run by (a) local authorities, (b) the voluntary sector and (c) the private sector in each year since 1995.

Cathy Jamieson: The information requested is provided in the following table.

  


Year 
  

Centre Type 
  



Local Authority 
  

Partnership 
  

Independent 
  

Other 
  

Total 
  



September 1995 
  

100.0% 
  
 
 
 

49,020 
  



September 1996 
  

100.0% 
  
 
 
 

50,117 
  



September 1997 
  

100.0% 
  
 
 
 

53,260 
  



February 1999 
  

79.5% 
  

18.4% 
  

2.1% 
  
 

79,361 
  



September 1999 
  

75.1% 
  

23.0% 
  

1.8% 
  
 

88,799 
  



January 2001 
  

73.7% 
  

26.3% 
  
 
 

98,837 
  



January 2002 
  

73.5% 
  

25.2% 
  
 

1.3% 
  

98,769 
  



  Prior to 1998 data was only collected for children attending local authority nursery schools. In 2001-02, it was not possible to break down the data into those in the private and voluntary sectors, and those describing themselves as "other".

Public Sector Staff

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost has been of implementing the working time directive for (a) each non-departmental public body and executive agency, (b) local authorities and (c) the NHS in each year since the directive came into force.

Mr Andy Kerr: The information requested is not held centrally.

Rail Network

Alex Johnstone (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the relevant local authorities and other interested parties about the Tay Estuary Rail Study.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive meets representatives of local authorities in the Tayside area on a regular basis to discuss a range of issues, including the Tay Estuary Rail Study.

Rail Network

Nora Radcliffe (Gordon) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met representatives of English, Welsh and Scottish Railways and what issues were discussed

Iain Gray: The Scottish Executive meets representatives of the various parts of the rail industry in Scotland on a regular basis, including English, Welsh and Scottish Railways.

Roads

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any consideration was given to design and construct contracts for the road improvement schemes recently announced for the Ayr to Stranraer section of the A77.

Iain Gray: It is too soon to say how the construction of these schemes will be procured. However, the preliminary design will be undertaken through a framework design commission for which tenders will shortly be invited by the Scottish Executive Development Department. Thereafter, the strategy adopted will depend on public reaction to the draft design proposals, when they are published.

Roads

Brian Adam (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when remedial works to the A95 trunk road following the autumn storms will be completed.

Lewis Macdonald: The major landslip and bridge failure at Auchlunkart, which closed the A95 between Mulben and Craigellachie, is expected to be repaired by mid-April.

  Repairs to the other areas affected by the autumn storms will continue beyond this date. With the exception of a weekend closure starting on 7 March at one location, these repairs will not require the closure of the trunk road.

Roads

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which roads are defined as euro-routes and what plans there are to increase the number of such routes in Scotland

Lewis Macdonald: I have placed a map of the Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T) Roads in the UK in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 26706). This map may also be found on the official EU Website page at the following website address:

  http://europa.eu.int/comm/transport/library/road-2-15-uk.pdf.

  There are no proposals to increase the number of routes in Scotland at this time.

Rural Development

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it is taking to increase access to community services for economically disadvantaged people in rural and semi-rural areas.

Allan Wilson: The Executive is committed to promoting improvements to service delivery in our rural areas. Through our mainstream policies and programmes, for example in transport, health and modernising government, we are working to improve the access of rural communities to a wide range of services. We are also targeting the challenges facing our rural communities in accessing services, through specific programmes such as the Scottish Rural Partnership Fund and the Rural Transport Fund. This is in addition to the action we are taking to implement many of the recommendations of the report, Services in Rural Scotland , published by the Scottish National Rural Partnership in January 2001, aimed at encouraging more innovative approaches to service provision in rural areas.

Rural Transport

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it is meeting the transport needs of disadvantaged rural communities.

Lewis Macdonald: The Executive provides support for additional rural public transport services through its Rural Transport Fund. Last week, for example, I announced funding awards totalling nearly £3.4 million for 55 community transport projects in rural Scotland.

Sport

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether spending on sports is monitored in line with equalities policies.

Dr Elaine Murray: One of the conditions attached to funding by  sportscotland is that lottery or development grant applicants must operate an equal opportunities policy.  Sportscotland monitors grant recipients’ compliance with terms and conditions of funding.

Sport

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much (a) higher education institutions, (b) further education institutions, (c) secondary schools and (d) primary schools spend on sports-related activities, broken down by gender in each of the last three years.

Dr Elaine Murray: The information requested is not held centrally.

Sport

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive who has responsibility for the provision of sports facilities for people with disabilities.

Dr Elaine Murray: Local authorities have a statutory responsibility in relation to the provision of sports facilities for all the inhabitants of their area.

Waste Management

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it has taken to address the occurrence of odours emanating from waste water treatment plants.

Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive has been in discussion with Scottish Water, local authorities, Scottish Environment Protection Agency and UK counterparts about odours from waste water treatment plants. This is because it has become apparent there may be a gap in legislation in Scotland for dealing with this problem. In particular, English case authority has confirmed that odour from waste water treatment works cannot be dealt with by local authorities under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 as they cannot be considered "premises" within the meaning of its provisions. This authority is persuasive in Scotland.

  On that basis, the Executive intends to launch a consultation exercise on proposals for the statutory control of odour from waste water treatment works. Such a consultation will have the aim of the Executive, thereafter, introducing enhanced guidance and improved legislation for remedying odour problems from waste water treatment works.